Blackburn Jaegers
by Zephyros-Phoenix
Summary: COMPLETE - A series of onehots about our fan-made team, the Blackburn Jaegers. Leader: Osprey Fenix; Specialist: Crow Bishop; Wingman: Lily Ray; Heavy ballistics: Basil; Helmsman: Krane. NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
1. Prologue

**Ok, so recently my partner Dingo-Sniper and I made a squadron for Storm Hawks (I got back into the series and dragged him into it with me X3). So, I wrote this little oneshot/prologue about our squadron, you know so people could get an idea of what the characters are like. Unfortunately, given all the projects we have going on right now, this is likely the only piece of Storm Hawks stories I'll be able to write about our team. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Storm Hawks was created by Asaph Fipke. The Blackburn Jaegers belong to Zephyros-Phoenix and Dingo-Sniper.**

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><p>"Whoa! Look! It's the Blackburn Jaegers!" exclaimed a group of children as they rode by.<p>

"Do we really have to do this?" Basil groaned.

"Yes, Basil. You're part of the team now, but we have to get you added into the registry to make it official," Osprey said.

"Don't sweat it, Bas. It's just a technicality," Crow added, lightly patting Basil on the back.

"Ugh, I just don't like being here with all these people staring at me," he muttered, eyeing the crowd that grew around them.

"Well, this is Terra Atmosia. People aren't used to seeing a Raptor here unless it's attacking them," said Crow.

"I suppose they have a good reason to be cautious," Basil admitted.

"You know I've been meaning to ask something about that. You're a Raptor and you used to be one of the Raptors… Who thought it was a good idea to give the Bogaton squadron the same name as a species? That just confuses people!" Lily Ray exclaimed.

"Tell me about it! Sometimes I think it would just be better if I was a Terradon like my cousin. They're certainly far less… intimidating," Basil said just as a parent sharply pulled her child towards her.

The Jaegers rode their Skimmers through the city streets, while Krane - their silent carrier pilot who didn't have a Skimmer of his own - sat with Lily Ray. Once they reached the Sky Knight Council, they parked the rides in the large open courtyard and made their way inside. Once they were away form their rides, a group of kids and teenagers gathered around their Skimmers with wide eyes, admiring every little detail.

"Councillors," Osprey greeted the elderly men with a bow as they sat high above them in an elevated booth.

"Ah, Sky Knight Osprey, how good to see you again," greeted the lead councillor. "What brings you to Atmosia?"

"We've come to make an addition into the registry for my squadron," she replied, gesturing to Basil, who stepped forward.

"I-is that a… a R-Raptor?" he stuttered as the councillors behind him began murmuring.

Basil noticed this and began growling at a low hum, but stopped when Osprey put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Yes, councillors. This is Basil and he is a Raptor, but he is part of my squadron. Surely, members of an esteemed council can overlook a minor detail such as species?"

The council members whispered to each other before turning to the Jaegers. "Very well, Sky Knight Osprey. This is your decision," the lead councillor said hesitantly. He opened a large book and brought a feathered quill into his hand. "Now, before we put in any additions, I'd like to review the current roster."

"Osprey Fenix: Sky Knight and leader," Osprey announced.

"Crow Bishop: Sharpshooter, tactician and crystal mage," Crow declared next.

"Lily Ray: First officer and wingman. Oh, and Krane: Carrier pilot and flight engineer!" Lily Ray quickly added for their silent helmsman.

"And your new addition?"

"Basil: Stealth, heavy ballistics and demolitions," he grinned with a low hum in his throat.

"Uh, I see," the councillor groaned nervously. "There you have it, Mr. Basil, you are officially a Blackburn Jaeger."

"Thank you," Basil nodded before turning to leave with his team.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Crow said as the doors to the council hall shut behind them.

"Easy for you to say. You weren't the one they were all staring at," Basil muttered.

"I'm surprised they didn't wet themselves when they saw you!" Lily Ray added.

"I'll admit, that would have been pretty funny," Basil chuckled, as Crow and Lily Ray laughed with him. They quickly ceased their laughter once Krane nudged Basil with his elbow and they saw Osprey staring at them with a blank expression.

"Enough jokes, guys. We've done what we came here to do."

"Aw c'mon Ossy, we're just having some fun. You don't need to be such a hoser," Lily Ray jested.

"I am not a hoser," she protested, crossing her arms.

"Then let's celebrate! There's a great place just down the block that I heard serves the best ice cream," Lily Ray suggested.

"All right, all right," Osprey conceded.

"Oh, do you think they'll have lactose-free ice cream? I'd rather not repeat what happened last month on the Frigate," Crow interjected.

"None of us want to repeat that, Crow. It took all of us three days just to scrub the bridge clean!" Basil added as they all laughed.

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><p><strong>Also, I just want to point out that we did not name them after the Jaegers in Pacific Rim (even though we both love that movie). They are named after the Parasitic Jaeger, aka the Arctic Skua.<strong>


	2. Perfect Attunement

**I wasn't planning on continuing the oneshot prologue about our Storm Hawks OC squadron, but I figured even though I won't have the time to give them a full story like some of our other groups, I can at least give them a few oneshots of their adventures and such. **

**Just a note, these oneshots are not in chronological order. Also, if you came here for some actual Storm Hawks action, you are in the wrong place. This is about mine and Dingo-Sniper's fan made squadron. **

**We do not own Storm Hawks, which is property of Asaph Fipke; we only own our characters, the Blackburn Jaegers and original content associated with them.**

**This particular oneshot was originally only posed on my deviantART alongside a picture. The basic idea for it is that Crow, much like Piper, has succumbed to the Binding and is slowly dying. In his final moments, Crow confesses his true feelings for Osprey.**

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><p>"Phoenix Flare…" Crow muttered, "Come on, Phoenix Flare!" he tried again, his voice straining as he struggled to stand up straight. The glow of the crystals in his hands dimmed until there was no radiant light at all. Crow looked at his weakened hands with defeat before looking up to see Osprey pinned to the ground by Dark Ace. He roughly stepped on her shoulder to keep her to the ground before holding his blade only a few centimetres from her face.<p>

"Any last words, Blackburn Phoenix?" Dark Ace taunted. Osprey simply glared and said nothing, keeping her eyes looked with Ace's in defiance.

Crow reached for his Night Shot rifle and shakily readied the rifle in his arms. His finger trembled over the trigger and he could barely keep the rifle up. He took a deep breath and summoned all the strength he could muster enough to steady the rifle and aim a shot right at Dark Ace. The blast struck his shoulder, though it was mostly deflected by his armour, but it nonetheless drew his attention to Crow.

"Oh, you're still up and running are you? Well not for long!" Dark Ace swung his sword, sending a bolt of electrified red energy hurtling right towards Crow. He narrowly ducked to avoid it, but was knocked to the ground by the blast from the impact.

"Crow!" Osprey quickly swung her feet and knocked Dark Ace roughly onto the ground. She flipped herself back onto her feet and retrieved her katanas that lay nearby. She started making her way over to Crow, who had not moved, but noticed Dark Ace getting back up. With her eyes narrowed at her target, Osprey gathered up all the energy she could muster within her. She jumped into the air and unleashed her signature attack, Phoenix Frostblaze. The fiery and icy blast struck Dark Ace right in the chest, charing parts of his armour and instantly knocking him out as ice partially formed around his body. Osprey sheathed her sword, satisfied with her work before rushing over to Crow.

"Crow!" she cried in worry, gathering him in her arms. "Crow!" she cried again, giving his body a little shake.

Crow suddenly coughed and groaned, before barely managing to open his eyes. "Ossy," he muttered with a weak smile.

"Why did you do that Crow? He could have killed you!"

"H-he would have k-killed you if I hadn't," Crow struggled to speak.

"Come on, let's get you back to the Frigate. Krane can patch you up," she said, as she prepared to help him up.

"No, no Ossy," he said, gripping her arm to stop her from moving. "It's ok. I-I think I'm done."

"What? What are you talking about Crow?" For the first time in his life, Crow could see fear in her eyes. Ever since he had known her, he knew that she was never afraid of anything, or at least she never showed it. He couldn't count how many times she charged into a fight where they were outnumbered and outgunned and she didn't flinch for a second. But now, she genuinely looked afraid. "Why did you do that Crow? You know what the Binding does to you! He could have killed you!"

"I-if I didn't, he would have killed you… I-I couldn't let that happen to you," he whispered weakly. Osprey noticed his eyes starting to droop and lightly shook him to keep him awake.

"Hey, hey! Crow, stay awake! Don't you give up on me!" she shouted.

"I-I'm sorry, Ossy. I guess I'm not as strong as you are," he coughed.

"You're wrong, Crow! You're the strongest person I know; I couldn't have done any of this without you," she insisted.

"You would have found a way; you always do," he said with a weak smile. "That's one of the things I've always loved about you. Ossy, I don't have much time left. I-"

"Don't say that!" she interjected.

"No, Ossy, we both knew it was only a matter of time," he said with a violent cough. "Un-unmastered Biding drains life energy and I'm running pretty low. Ossy, there's something I need to tell you before I-"

"And you can tell me when we get back to the Frigate!"

"Y-you and I both know th-that I don't have that kind of t-time. Please, just let me say what I need to say. Ossy," he began, "I love you."

"Wh-what?" she gasped.

"Please just let me… I've always loved you, Ossy. Ever since the day I met you," he paused to cough into his arm, "when you came bursting in to my rescue. You were so beautiful and I remember it like it was yesterday." Crow lifted his left hand to caress her cheek, weakly wiping away the tear that escaped her eye. Despite his weakened state, he could make out the water forming around her eyes. Any second now they would breach over her eyes and race down her cheeks and Crow knew he didn't have the strength to wipe them all away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered, her voice nearly breaking.

"I was afraid. It's stupid, I know, but… I was afraid that I wouldn't be good enough for you. You were always so strong and brave… powerful. Someone like me would be unworthy," he said softly.

"Don't say that," she murmured, gently caressing his hair.

"I'm sorry I never told you, Ossy. I just… wanted you to know before I…" Crow's sentence trailed off as his eyes drooped into a close.

"Crow? No, no, no, no, Crow don't do this to me," she said when she felt him go limp in her arms. Her eyebrows furrowed as her lips quivered. She gently shook him, silently praying with all her heart that it would be enough to wake him up. She broke down in an instant; tears flowed down her cheeks and she couldn't stop herself from crying out in despair. She pulled Crow's to her chest and placed her chin on the top of his head, rocking back and forth cradling his body as she cried. She kept telling herself that this wasn't supposed to happen, that Crow was supposed to get better and that he would be fine. But imagining these false promises she made to herself brought no peace or comfort to her broken heart. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled away and held Crow before her as she did before. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Crow," she whispered tearfully. She brushed the thick bangs out of his eyes and lowered her head. She lightly shut her eyes as their lips met, but she felt no response from and couldn't hold back the tears that flowed down her cheeks and dropped onto Crow's face. Unbeknownst to her, a white glow began to surround her before it spread to Crow.

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><p><strong>Well, that was that oneshot, hope you enjoyed it. Maybe the next one will be about Krane and his past O-O<strong>


	3. Brothers in Arms Part 1

**With City Shadows arc 1 concluded, D-Sniper and I are taking a wee little break before we start arc 2. In the mean time while we plan out arc 2, we figured we'd give some of our other characters some attention.**

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><p>"Ok, according to the information we scored from that Talon, the Cyclonians have set up a crystal mining site on this small terra called Terra Mineros," Crow explained, opening a map on the main table of the bridge.<p>

"Mineros? Is it cold there?" Lily Ray asked with an anticipated smile.

"Actually, it's just hills and dirt, but there's a huge mine filled with raw crystals there," Crow clarified.

"Good, the last thing we need is horrible cold weather," Basil hissed.

"What you call horrible, I call comfortable and familiar!" Ray barked.

"Ok, don't you two start this again!" Osprey shouted, coming between the two. "Ok Crow, what's the plan?"

"Krane will stay with the Frigate out of sight; we don't want the Cyclonians spotting our ship and figuring out the plan. The rest of us will travel to the Terra on our skimmers. I'll stay back and provide cover while you three move up into the mine's camp site where you can take out the Cyclonians. One less crystal mine for them is a good thing for all of Atmos."

"Good. Krane, set course for Terra Mineros!" Krane silently acknowledged Osprey's order.

As the Frigate was making it's way to Terra Mineros, Crow walked down the halls of the ship near their quarters and noticed Ray and Basil crouched by Krane's door. "Uh, what are you two doing?" he asked.

"Oh jeez! Crow, you nearly gave me a fright there, eh," Ray responded.

"We're trying to get into Krane's room," Basil said.

"Yeah, I can see that… but why?" he asked again.

"Ok, we all know Krane never talks right? All we know about him is that he used to be in the circus at Terra Neon, but that's it! Something fishy is going on with him and we want to get to the bottom of it!" Ray exclaimed.

"You guys, Ossy's not going to like this! You have to respect Krane's privacy," Crow scolded them.

"That's right!" Osprey suddenly appeared from the other end of the corridor as Ray and Basil shrieked in surprise, quickly standing up straight. "I can't believe you two! Breaking into Krane's private quarters? Krane has a right to his privacy and if he doesn't want to tell us about it, then that's his choice! Krane will tell us about his past when he's good and ready. Until then, I don't want to see anymore of this sneaking around and snooping through Krane's things! Do I make myself clear?"  
>"Yes," Ray and Basil muttered.<p>

"Good, now get ready. We're almost at Terra Mineros." As the others gathered with their gear and weapons in the bridge, Osprey walked up to Krane as he piloted the Frigate. "All right, this is as far as the Frigate goes. Let's anchor her down over there," she said, pointing to several rock pillars to the West. She Frigate's anchor hooks dug into the rocks as Krane shut down the ship.

"We're all ready to go," Crow said.

"Good, Krane, you stay here and keep watch. If anything goes wrong, you know what do to," Osprey said as Krane nodded. The Jaegers rode their Skimmers towards Terra Mineros, staying low to avoid any watching Cyclonians.

Crow put on his goggles as he zoomed in on the Terra. "There's a small ledge just below the main surface of the Terra. We can park our rides there and move toward the camp."

"Good work, Crow," said Osprey. They landed where Crow instructed them to and parked their skimmers before climbing up the rocky side of the Terra. "Ok, Crow, you set up here and watch our backs as we advance."

"You got it!" Crow said with a thumbs up.

Osprey, Ray and Basil slowly advanced into the mine camp site, carefully ducking behind mine carts and sheltered structures to avoid guards. "Wait, something's up… where are all the guards going?" Osprey whispered. "Crow, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure. All the guards are leaving the main camp," Crow responded over their radio.

"Hmm, something doesn't feel right here," Basil hissed.

"You said it," Ray added.

"Oh no, guys we've got-" Crow cut out before he could finish.

"Crow? Crow! Come in! What's going on?" Osprey cried into the radio.

"This can't be good," Basil muttered.

"You said it Bas," Osprey said as the three came out of their hiding spot and into the open of the empty mine camp. All of a sudden, figures in black appeared all around them. They aimed crossbow-like weapons mounted on their forearms at the three as their eyes glowed purple and the growled menacingly. "NightCrawlers," she muttered.

"You're surrounded," the NightCrawler leader came forward as he spoke, his eyes glowing red instead of purple. Two NightCrawlers walked forward, roughly throwing Crow to their feet. Osprey quickly helped him up, "Crow! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry, Ossy. I didn't see the NightCrawlers until they jumped me!"

The NightCrawlers placed them in a metal cage as the leader radioed back to Cyclonia of their capture.

"That Talon we got the information from must have known it was a trap," said Crow.

"Ngh, what do we do now? We can't just sit and wait for them to ship us off to Cyclonia!" Basil shouted.

"How are you gonna get out of this one? Those hosers took our weapons and we're stuck in here," Ray grumbled.

"Relax everyone. You're forgetting that there's still one Jaeger," Osprey said.

"Krane? No offence Ossy, but Krane's just a carrier pilot!" Basil argued.

"He's a real stand up guy, but I doubt he could hold his own against a NightCrawler," added Crow.

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><p>Krane looked through the binoculars of the bridge, noticing the two black gliders flying towards the Frigate. He pulled away from the binoculars and narrowed his eyes in a glare. The NightCrawlers landed on the ship's exterior runway, before blasting open the hangar doors. Krane opened the gate of the ventilation shaft and climbed in before putting the gate back in place. He crawled through the vents as silently as he could until he came to the grate right over the bridge.<p>

"The boss said to check their ship, but I don't see anyone on board," said one NightCrawler as they searched through the bridge.

"We've checked the ship and there's no sign of additional members to that squadron we just captured. Let's head back," said the other as the two left. Once they left, Krane kicked out the grate and climbed down into the bridge.

The others were captured and he was the only one who could help them. And if NightCrawlers were here to do clean up, chances were that there would be more on Terra Mineros. There was only one thing he could do.

Krane made his way to his private quarters, which he always kept locked. Once inside, he walked over to the chest that held his treasured momentos from his time in the circus. He emptied the contents before peeling back a hidden compartment at the bottom of the chest. Inside lay a black hooded robe, black armor and two mini crossbow gauntlets. Krane was so sure that he would never have to lay eyes on this uniform again as he lightly traced his fingers over the scratched out symbol on one of the armor pieces. He took a deep breath and sighed before donning the black cloak and armor. He adjusted the two crossbows to make sure they were aligned and properly functioning before throwing the hood over his head. Krane silently mused to himself how the uniform still fit after all this time as he adjusted the hood to allow his ponytail to flow through a hole he cut out for his hair.

But this time would be different. He wasn't going to raid a Terra or destroy an Atmosian facility. This time, he was going to save his friends. He made his way down to the hangar bay, noticing the destroyed bay doors courtesy to the invading NightCrawlers. He walked past where the others' rides would usually be parked to a spot against the wall. He pressed his hand into a spot on the wall as a small compartment opened up. Krane punched in a code on the keypad as the wall suddenly indented and slid open, revealing a black Skimmer identical to the ones the NightCrawlers came on. Krane had found this hidden compartment on the Frigate within the first few days of and thought it would be the best place to hide his old ride. He lifted his leg over the body of the Skimmer and planted himself firmly in the driver's seat. He couldn't remember the last time he mounted his old Skimmer, but the feeling of being back on it and in his old uniform was so familiar that it felt like yesterday. With hesitant hands, he gripped the handles and started up the Skimmer, feeling the hum of the engines vibrate through his body.

He brought the Skimmer out to the landing strip and stared at Terra Mineros in the distance. If there was another we he could do this, Krane would have already taken it, but this was the only option. He silently prayed that his teammates would not think any less of him before hitting the accelerator as his Skimmer zoomed off the Frigate. Krane nearly became lost in the feeling of the wind running through his hair and filling up his hood. He closed his eyes, relishing the freedom he felt before quickly coming back to his sense. He hit the transformer switch and pulled the handlebars up as the Skimmer morphed into a glider. Terra Mineros was only a few seconds away as Krane narrowed his eyes, steeling himself for the ordeal ahead.

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><p><strong>Uh oh, the Jaegers have been captured by Nightcrawlers and only Krane can save them. But in order to save his new friends, Krane must confront his past.<strong>


	4. Brothers in Arms Part 2

**And here's part 2! Some people have expressed interest in seeing the Jaegers and Storm Hawks meeting. Of course we've been thinking about that, but so far all we've got it how they'd meet at first. As for any sort of mini-adventure/team up, we haven't thought of anything yet. So if you've got some ideas, shoot them our way!**

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><p>"The ship is empty. There is no sign of the helmsman aboard," reported one of the NightCrawlers.<p>

"Are you sure you searched the ship thoroughly?" the leader hissed.

"Yes," answered the second NightCrawler.

"Hm, well he couldn't have gotten far. Their helmsman must be nearby. Ha, what could their helmsman possibly do? You place too much faith in your underlings," he mocked to Osprey.

"Teammates, not underlings," she corrected. "And you don't know our helmsman."

The leader heard the quiet hum of an engine and noticed the black glider in the distance. "I thought you said you all came back from their ship! It's one of ours, but I only sent the two of you to investigate their ship," he said, noticing that the approaching craft was a NightCrawler Skimmer. The Skimmer landed and braked to a halt. The rider hung his head low, but Lily Ray could just make out the long white ponytail and strand of white and red hair hanging out from the hood.

"Hey, isn't that?" she started, before she was quietly silenced by Osprey.

The rider stepped off the Skimmer before walking up to face the lead NightCrawler. He stopped before slowly raising his head.

"KRANE?" Crow, Basil and Ray shouted in unison.

"Well, well, well, look at what the cat dragged in," the leader hissed. When Krane said nothing and simply continued to stare at the leader, he continued speaking. "What? Still taking that 'vow of silence'?"

"Krane, you're a NightCrawler?" Basil cried in surprise.

"Oh? This is the new crew you're running with? Haha! You're their helmsman? Tell me, Krane, did you ever tell them about the crowd you used to run with?" Again, Krane didn't answer.

"Krane, what's this hoser talkin' about, eh?" Ray asked.

"You don't know? Krane here, your 'helmsman' used to be one of us! And he was just one of us; he was the best, he was our leader!"

"WHAT?" they exclaimed.

"That's right! You see, back in the day, my old friend, Krane, here and I were part of the Terra Neon circus. We got recruited into the NightCrawlers together and rose to the top of their ranks. Krane became out leader and I, his lieutenant. But somewhere along the way, Krane got soft; he got WEAK! He started feeling bad for everything we did and made the decision to leave. But he was oh so noble and tried to get me to come with him. But I wasn't a weakling like him! I knew that serving Master Cyclonis as a NightCrawler was the highest honour any Atmosian could hope for! You were an idiot to throw it all away Krane! And they chose me to replace you," he grinned maliciously. "You picked the losing side, Krane! What did you think? That you'd be able to just march up to me and **my** NightCrawlers to rescue your friends? I'll tell you what, just to give you a slim fighting chance, we won't use our crossbows. How's that sound?" he taunted. He turned to his NightCrawlers and waved his hand, ordering them to attack.

The NightCrawlers descended onto Krane. As the black hoods nearly blotted out the spot of white hair, there were sudden flashes of blue light flashing from the horde. Krane dodged, kicked and elegantly danced his way across the area, firing paralyzing bolts from his crossbows, which instantly froze the NightCrawlers they hit in place. Within a matter of minutes, the other NightCrawlers were frozen in place with a faint blue glow surrounding their bodies. Krane looked back to the lead NightCrawler, who casually clapped his hands.

"Very impressive, Krane. It seems that fighting for the Sky Knights hasn't made you lose your edge," he complimented, strutting up to Krane who readied himself for another attack. Once the two got close to each other, they simultaneously moved to attack, but each strike that one made was easily blocked by the other. For minutes this repeated over and over, nearly one able to land a hit on their target until…

Krane felt his head pull back as the NightCrawler leader yanked on his long, white ponytail roughly. Krane lost his footing and the leader took his chance to trip Krane onto the ground. He felt the air rush out of his lungs as he landed on the dirty ground, but before he could turn over and pull himself up, the leader placed his foot over Krane's chest and pushed him back down, using his weight to pin the ex-NightCrawler in place.

"You know what this is, don't you?" he hissed, holding an oval shaped, dark purple crystal in his fingertips. "This was Master Cyclonis' gift to me the day I took over as leader of the NightCrawlers. She gave it to me on the condition that I use it on the disgraced warrior we once called our leader. There was no need for her to tell me so. I already knew I wanted to use it on you." Krane narrowed his eyes and said nothing, which only angered the leader more. "Still? Still you have nothing to say? You turned your back on us, our empire and everything we stood for! And now you will get everything that is coming to you!" The leader outstretched his hand that held the Oblivion crystal and squeezed it tightly as the crystal began glowing. A bright purple light shot from the crystal to Krane as his caged teammates cried out. However, when the lied faded, Krane remained unharmed. "What? But how?" he cried in astonishment.

Krane took advantage of his enemy's loss of focus and blasted him in the chest with his crossbow. The leader fell back onto the ground roughly as he lost his grip on the Oblivion crystal at it fly into the air. Krane pulled himself back onto his feet and caught the Oblivion crystal in his hand before walking over to the leader with his crossbow pointed out.

"An Oblivion crystal destroys your enemy in an instant, but it does not work on friends," Krane uttered.

"D-did Krane just… talk?" Ray asked.

"I… think he did," Crow answered.

"But we're not friends! Not anymore!" the leader shouted back.

"That doesn't matter. The crystal only cares if a friendship existed. I don't care what you choose to do with your life, Rail," Krane whispered grimly as he reached down and grasped Rail's collar tightly before pulling his old friend in close, "if you harm my friends again, I will make you wish we never left Terra Neon." Krane delivered a swift punch to Rail's face, instantly knocking him out as he released Rail's collar from his grip. Krane moved to the cage that held his friends and blasted the lock with his crossbow.

"Good job," Ossy commented as Krane gave her a curt nod in response.

"Krane! Why didn't you tell us you were a NightCrawler?" Ray exclaimed. But before Basil and Crow could join in on the questions, Ossy cut them off.

"Enough! We'll do what we came here to do and then when we're back on the Frigate, you can ask all the questions you want!" she ordered.

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><p>"So, questions?" Krane asked.<p>

"Maybe you should start from the beginning," Crow suggested.

"Very well. You all know I used to be in the circus on Terra Neon?" he asked as they all nodded. "Well, my best friend at that time was Rail, who you now know as the leader of the NightCrawlers."

"That guy used to be your friend? How did that even happen?" Ray exclaimed.

"Ray, let him continue," Ossy said.

"Right, sorry."

"Life in the circus wasn't always the best. Everyone was always looking out for themselves and Rail and I were barely surviving. We were like brothers, looking out for one another, protecting each other. One day, the Cyclonians came. They were recruiting soldiers for their army and offered us power and prosperity. We were stupid children at the time and we didn't realize just what we were signing up for. Eventually, I became leader of the NightCrawlers," Krane continued as his hand lightly brushed over his old uniform. "For years, I believed I was doing good, I was so brainwashed into thinking the Cyclonians were meant to rule Atmosia. After each raid, I began to see what monsters the Cyclonians were and my part in helping them spread terror. I wouldn't have any part of it anymore. I tried to leave and Rail tried to stop me. I tried to convince him to leave with me, but my friend was too forgone. He was completely brainwashed into serving the Cyclonian Empire; he wasn't my brother anymore. I can't imagine what you all must think of me right now," Krane mumbled, hanging his head low.

"That's why you never let anyone in your room," Crow realized. "You were afraid of us finding out."

"Well, you're not a NightCrawler anymore, Krane! You're still a Jaeger!" Ray exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Krane's shoulders and bringing him close.

"We all have a past, sometimes one we're not proud of. I used to be one of the Raptors after all, and you all still gave me a chance," Basil added.

"Yeah! Ossy, you can't kick Krane off the team, you just can't!" Ray pleaded.

"The whole Frigate would fall apart without him!" added Crow.

"Relax," Ossy relieved them, "I already knew."

"WHAT?" the three of them exclaimed.

"Krane… was worried it would come out at some point, an obviously well-predicted worry, and he didn't want me to think the worst of him. He told me a few weeks after he joined so that there could be no doubts about him. He wanted me to hear it from him."

"…and you kept this from us?" Ray cried.

"It wasn't my secret to tell. I figured Krane would tell everyone once he was ready."

"Well after seeing the way you took down all those NightCrawlers, maybe you should get out of the Frigate and come with us on more missions, Krane," suggested Basil.

"Maybe… once in a while would be nice," Krane mused.

* * *

><p><strong>I think it's kinda weird writing Krane since I always imagined him being the character who almost never talks... but honestly, the rest of this chapter couldn't work without him talking. Still felt weird though lol<strong>


	5. Squadron Clash Part 1

**A meeting between the Blackburn Jaegers and the Storm Hawks has probably been the most requests thing to happen with regards to our squadron. So, here it is: part one of what will hopefully be a three part short story! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Ah, Terra Saharr," Piper sighed, "It's nice to see that they managed to fix things up around here after that whole race fiasco."<p>

"Yeah, that was a blast!" Aerrow exclaimed.

"A 'blast'," Stork air quoted, "is not the word I would use to describe that experience."

"Oh sweet, that guy's got guitars for sale!" Finn cried. Just as he began to dash over to the stall with wide, excited eyes, Piper grabbed the collar of his shirt to stop him.

"Finn! We aren't here to buy you a new guitar!" she chastised.

"But the string on my old one snapped when I was busy saving the Atmos from that music cannon! And I really, really, want a new one!" he whined.

"No," Piper insisted, "we're here to restock on supplies and get some equipment for repairs. We barely are it out of that last fight with the Talons between your skimmer breaking down and the ship's cannons jamming. It's just not in our budget."

"Ugh, fine!" Finn sighed in annoyance. "But you owe me one for this Piper."

"Um, I don't think that's how it works, Finn," Junko added.

"Ok, I took the liberty of making up a list of everything we need!" Piper chirped, pulling out a thick scroll. She held the top corners between her fingers as the rest of the scroll slid down and rolled across the sandy terrain.

"Whoa, that's a long list…" Aerrow commented.

"Are we gonna have enough time to get everything on it?" Junko asked.

"I know one way we can! Split up!" Finn exclaimed, ripping a section off the list before dashing off into the bazaar.

"Finn! This list took me three hours to write up!" she shouted after him, but he was already long gone. Piper heard another loud _rip_ sound and saw Junko smiling with another piece of the list in his hand. He laughed nervously before diapering in a cloud of smoke.

"Aw don't sweat it Piper, at least this way, we can get all the shopping done faster!" Aerrow placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"I guess you're right, Aerrow. I think I'm just worried about Finn and Junko spending all our money on junk food. Stork, you coming with us?"

"No thanks. I'll be much faster on my own," he replied, taking another section of the list.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me. Come on," said Aerrow as they headed into the bazaar. While the two browsed the stalls, Radarr wandered off to another stall when he bumped into something rough and fell onto the hot sand. Once the shock passed, he looked up to see what he bumped into. A tall, broad-shouldered green lizard towered over him. As the lizard glared at Radarr with his bright yellow eyes, Radarr couldn't help but whimper as his ears drooped.

"What where you're going," he hissed before continuing on his way.

Once he was a few feet away, Radarr rushed over to Aerrow, jumping straight on his back and tightly clutching his face. "Ah! Radarr, what's wrong?" Aerrow asked as he pried his co-pilot off him. Radarr chirped loudly and pointed to the large Raptor walking through the bazaar. "Piper, we've got a situation," he whispered to her.

"Finn bought that guitar, didn't he? I just knew he'd blow our money on that. I shouldn't have let him run off on his own!" Piper grunted.

"No, no, not that. That!" Aerrow grabbed her small shoulders and turned her around, pointing out the Raptor that Radarr had bumped into earlier.

"A Raptor? What are they doing here?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I'm betting with one of them here, Repton and the rest of them can't be too far behind," Aerrow smirked. "Let's follow him!"

"Aerrow, wait!" she called after him before sighing and following him. They carefully tailed the Raptor until he disappeared into one of the tents. The pair tightly hug the entrance so they could eavesdrop on the conversation inside.

"Bas! Long time no see! How's it going?" the clerk greeted heartily.

"Not bad. Is my order in?" the Raptor, 'Bas', asked.

"Yup, a whole crate of heater crystals," the clerk replied, heaving up a large crate of glowing red-orange crystals.

"What would a Raptor want with a whole crate of heater crystals?" Aerrow whispered.

"Let's keep listening," added Piper.

"Perfect! Ah, these are great!" he admired.

"Still having fights over the thermostat setting are you?"

"Ugh, what do you think? Ray and I are always fighting over the temperature. But what does she expect? I'm a Raptor? We like the heat! And whenever Ossy catches us fighting she reams us out! She said the ship stays it's designated temperature and Ray and I can keep our rooms set to whatever temperature we like. And with these, my room will be as hot as this Terra!"

"Those don't sound like any of the Raptors…" Piper said quietly.

"Maybe Repton got a new crew," Aerrow whispered back.

"Why are we whispering?"

Piper squealed loudly and jumped out when she heard Finn behind her. "Finn! You startled me!"

"Well what else was I supposed to do? Last time you hit me because I was too loud, now I'm too quiet? What are you two doing anyway?" Finn asked as Junko and Stork appeared behind him as well.

"Good, everyone's here. Storm Hawks, we have a situation: there's a Raptor inside that tent and there may be more nearby," Aerrow announced.

"Raptors? You don't think Cyclonians are here too, do you?" Finn whimpered. Before anyone could get another word in, the Raptor came out of the tent, holding the crate of heater crystals. The group instantly froze when the Raptor cast his bright yellow eyes towards them, narrowing his eyes into a vicious glare.

"What are you looking at?" he muttered before walking off.

"Whoa, that was close man," Finn sighed.

"It was like he didn't know who we were…" Junko added.

"Well, if he is a new member of the Raptors, then we wouldn't have met in person until now," Aerrow reasoned.

"Yeah but we all the Storm Hawks emblem on us. There's no way he couldn't not notice that!" Piper argued.

"Let's follow him and see where he goes," Aerrow grinned. The squadron tailed the Raptor on the skimmers, careful to keep enough distance so that they didn't lose him or that he would wise up on their presence. They recognized his skimmer as the same kind the Raptors rode, but noticed the distinct black and orange color, much like his own attire.

"Black and orange… Where have I seen those colours before?" Piper muttered to herself.

"You say something Piper?" Aerrow asked.

"Oh, no, it's nothing!" she answered.

They continued tailing the Raptor until they came to a large black frigate with a bright red hull. "Whoa, check out that ship!" Finn cried in awe.

"I've never seen anything like it," Aerrow added.

Piper, however, eyed the ship carefully, examining every detail she could notice at their distance, in particular the large orange, flaming bird emblem on the side of the frigate. "Wait, that emblem… I've seen it somewhere before."

"If we're gonna attack, we should do it now before they have a chance to prepare!" Aerrow announced.

"Aerrow, wait!" Piper called out, trying to stop Aerrow, Finn and Junko as they rode on ahead, but to no avail.

"I have a feeling this is going to end badly… for us," Stork muttered from his seat behind Piper.

"If that emblem means what I think it means, then I'm afraid you're right, Stork."

"Finn, fire a warning shot. Let him know we mean business," Aerrow commanded.

"Hehe, you got it," Finn grinned, focusing the sight on his crossbow before firing a shot that just missed the Raptor by a hair. Noticing the shot, the Raptor turned around and saw his approaching attackers.

"What's your problem!" he shouted.

"Where's your buddy Repton? He's gotta be around here somewhere!" Aerrow called back.

"Repton? You think I'm with him?"

"Who else could you possibly be with!" Finn added too.

"Oh I can't believe this is happening again," Bas muttered to himself.

* * *

><p>"And then Basil just turns up the thermostat again, after I specifically told him not to!" Ray exclaimed.<p>

"Well, in all fairness, Ossy did tell the two of you to cut with the fighting," Crow mentioned.

As the two teammates spoke, Krane noticed something through the periscope of the ship: Basil on his Thrasher skimmer being chased by three other skimmers. _'Not good,'_ he thought to himself. He turned away from the periscope to inform Crow and Ray, but couldn't get a word in during their conversation.

"What do you expect, Crow? I'm a Blizzarian! As in, covered in fur. We thrive in the cold!"

"And Basil is a Raptor, who thrives in the heat," Crow pointed out.

"Oh, don't be such a hoser!"

"Look, I don't know what to tell you, Ray. Ossy said the thermostat stays at its current setting and that you and Basil can make your own rooms as hot or as cold as you like."

"But-" Before Ray could utter another word, Krane suddenly blew the frigate's horn, causing both her and Crow to quickly cover their ears. "What with you, eh?" Krane remained silent but pointed to the window and the skirmish that was still taking place outside.

"Whoa, looks like Basil went and got himself in to some trouble," Crow commented.

"You said it. Why didn't you say something sooner, Krane?" Ray asked. Krane simply cocked his eyebrow at them before rolling his eyes and sighing.

"What's going on?" Osprey asked, entering the bridge. "Where's Basil? He should have been back by now."

"Yeah, well there's an explanation for that," Crow said as Krane pointed to the window a second time. Krane pulled down the periscope for Ossy as she looked through it.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Krane, hold the fort; Crow, get up to your nest to provide us cover fire; Ray, you're with me," she ordered.

"You got it, Ossy," Crow winked.

Ossy and Ray hopped on their skimmers and took to the skies after Basil on his assailants. "So what are we dealing with?" Ray asked.

"Judging by the emblem on those skimmers, it's those kids that are pretending to be Sky Knights. And I'm betting I know what happened," Ossy muttered in annoyance. "I'll take the leader, you and Basil take the other two.

"You got it, boss lady!" Ray beamed. Ray joined up with Basil as Finn and Junko flew off after them. Aerrow revved his engine to follow, but was cut off when Ossy flew right by him, cutting him off.

"Oh, so you wanna play like that, huh? All right then, let's play," Aerrow grinned.

"So, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time Basil?" Ray shouted.

"I didn't do anything!" he shouted back. "They did what everyone does and assumed I'm with Repton!"

"Man, that happens a lot, doesn't it?"

"You think getting the Jaegers emblem tattooed on my chest would help, but nooooooo," he growled. "Oh great, their marksman is shooting at us," he grumbled, noticing an arrow pass right by him.

"Well, good thing we've got a marksman of our own," Ray winked.

Basil narrowed his eyes towards the Frigate and noticed a faint shimmer of light. He smirked before yelling, "Let 'em have it, Crow!"

From atop his Crow's Nest, Crow caught sight of Basil through his scope. "You got it, Basil," he smirked, turning his rifle over to the blonde boy and wallop that were tailing him. "Nighty night!" he whispered, pulling the trigger and unleashing several shots onto the blonde's skimmer. The shots struck the main body of the skimmer when the skimmer suddenly came to a stop and split in half.

"Oh, man…" Finn muttered before falling from the sky.

"I gotcha buddy!" Junko shouted, catching Finn.

"Opps, did I do that?" Crow laughed before returning to his scope and catching Ossy in his sight.

As Aerrow caught up to Ossy, she suddenly pulled her skimmer up, flew over him and jumped onto his skimmer, landing right above the engine as she stood over him. "So, do you mind telling me why you're attacking my squadron?"

"Your squadron?" Aerrow asked in confusion.

"Yes, my squadron, the Raptor included. For someone claiming to be a Sky Knight, you're not managing your squadron very well."

"Hey! I'm managing my squadron just fine!"

"Is that so?" Ossy pulled out one of her katanas and activated the Tundra crystal that sat in the pommel. With blinding speed, she sliced through the wing of his skimmer, sending into a downward spiral. Ossy leapt off the crashing skimmer, sheathed her katana and pressed a button on her gauntlet, summoning her skimmer to her as she took her seat. Aerrow grabbed Radarr and jumped off his skimmer just as it crashed violently into the sand, parts scattering all around it as a large cloud of grey smoke rose to the sky. He pulled out his glider and coasted safely to the ground as Junko and Piper landed their rides next to him.

"Aerrow! Are you ok?" Finn cried.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," he insisted, brushing the sand off his clothes.

"I was trying to tell you guys before you flew off, that guy's not with the Raptors!" Piper exclaimed.

"He's not?" Junko asked, scratching his head.

"Look at that emblem, don't you guys recognize it?" Piper asked, pointing to the orange firebird on the side of the frigate.

"Uh… no," Finn answered.

"Finn! That's the emblem of the Blackburn Jaegers!"

"The who now?" Aerrow asked.

"The Blackburn Jaegers! One of the most skilled Sky Knight squadrons in all of Atmos! Their leader, Osprey Phoenix was the youngest graduate in Sky Knight Academy history! Everyone calls her the Blackburn Phoenix!"

"Please, she's got nothing on the Finnster, the greatest marksman in all of Atmos," Finn smiled proudly.

"Finn, nobody calls you that but you. And it's never going to catch on," Piper said.

"It so will catch on!" he insisted.

"Enough!" Finn and Piper immediately fell silent as the Storm Hawks turned their gaze to Osprey and the Blizzarian and Raptor that stood behind her.

"Hehe, we can explain?" Piper squeaked.

"Oh, I'd love to hear that," Ossy said sarcastically.

* * *

><p><strong>I think one of the things I like doing with these short stories of the Jaegers is exploring a little bit about each character (whether it's backstory, quirks, etc.), like why Basil has a tattoo of the Jaegers emblem on his chest as opposed to everyone else who just has it emblazoned on their armor. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it and feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing thoughts from my readers ^_^<strong>

**Part 2: The Blackburn Jaegers and Storm Hawks get to know each other after the misunderstanding of their first meeting.**


	6. Squadron Clash Part 2

**Part 2! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Wow, your ship is incredible!" Piper said in awe with wide eyes as she admired the interior of the Jaegers' frigate.<p>

"Well, that's why she's called the Magnificent Frigate!" Crow beamed.

"I don't recall inviting any of you on board," Ossy remarked as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Aw, don't be such a hoser, Ossy!" Ray said, giving Ossy a playful smack on the arm. Ossy growled lightly before rubbing her arm.

"Fine, just don't touch anything!" Ossy warned.

"Turbo engines, four cylinder crystal turbine engine, omni-directional jib," Stork listed off, examining the ship.

"Hey! I said no touching!" Ossy shouted a second time.

"So, 'Ossy' huh?" Finn asked.

"You don't get to call me 'Ossy'. It's 'Osprey' or 'Fenix' to you!" Ossy glared at Finn, pulling out one of her katanas to emphasize that she meant business.

"Ok, ok, 'Fenix'," Finn whimpered, holding up his arms in defence.

"Well, uh, Fenix, I want to apologize again for the misunderstanding," Aerrow laughed nervously, holding out his hand for Ossy to shake.

Ossy simply stared at the hand and did not take it. "Don't let it happen again."

"We just thought that-" Piper started.

"Thought what? That because I'm a Raptor that I must automatically be one of Repton's lackeys?" Basil interjected.

"Well…" Piper stalled, trying to find the right way to organize her words.

"Next time, you should look past a person's species. And I suppose you completely glossed over the fact that I have our team's emblem tattooed on my chest!" Basil exclaimed, gesturing to the bright orange phoenix tattoo on his chest.

"Ehehe, an honest mistake?" Piper whimpered.

"Ok! I think its time for a change of topic! Krane, how about some snacks?" Ray suggested.

Krane pulled out a plate of cookies and set it on the main table in the bridge. "Ah, sweet! Cookies!" Finn and Junko exclaimed excitedly in unison. They pushed past everyone to get straight to the cookies before rapidly inhaling them.

"Ugh, your teammates are certainly… graceful," Ossy muttered.

"Ahaha, they're a lot better once you get to know them," Aerrow assured her, but she responded with silence.

"So, um, if you don't mind me asking, is it true that you guys singlehandedly fought off a Cyclonian invasion of Terra Tranqua?" Piper asked.

"You betcha!" Ray chirped.

"Oh oh! And is it true that you exposed an undercover Talon within the Sky Knight Academy and Council?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Ossy asked.

"Sorry, it's just unbelievable to be in the presence of one of the best squadrons in all of Atmos!" Piper exclaimed.

"Eh-hem!" Piper turned around at the sound of Aerrow clearing his throat as her squadron all gave her inquisitive looks.

"Ehehe, what I mean to say is, you guys are practically living legends!" she burst excitedly.

"Sure, and how much do you know about us before we became a squadron?" Ossy asked.

"Uh…hm…" Piper started.

"Exactly! You claim to know everything about us, yet you know nothing about us!"

"Ossy, take it easy, she's just excited to meet you that's all," Crow said, pulling her back slightly by her shoulder.

"Whatever, this is a waste of time!" she groaned, pulling her shoulder from Crow's hand and walking out of the bridge.

"Yeesh, what crawled up her butt?" Finn scoffed.

"Hey, that's our leader you're talking about, eh!" Ray warned.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just that she seems so…so," Finn said, trying to find the words.

"Strict? It's not entirely her fault. She's… had it rough," Crow said.

"What happened? Before she became a Sky Knight, I mean?" Aerrow asked.

"Ossy and I grew up together; we've known each other since we were kids. It's funny actually, uh, when we were in grade school, I got picked on a lot. You know, bookworm," Crow said, rolling his eyes. "It was just another day when some jerks were messing with me when Ossy just burst in and saved me. Her hair was so bright and shining, like a phoenix…" Crow suddenly realized what he was saying and quickly moved on to another topic. "Anyway, uh, where was I? Right! We grew up together on Terra Blackburn."

"Terra Blackburn? But nobody lives there!" Piper exclaimed.

"Well yeah, not now! But people used to live there. You see a long time ago, like thousands of years ago, a phoenix rampaged across Terra Blackburn. That's how the Terra got its name: the phoenix scorched the earth so much that it was charred black. Eventually, the people that lived on the Terra made a deal with the phoenix: they would provide it regularly with food and in exchange the phoenix would no longer rampage over their lands. The phoenix agreed and presented the village leader with its Phoenix Crystal as a sign of it's honour in the deal. I'm a descendent of that family."

"Wow, that's an amazing story!" Piper squealed.

"A Phoenix Crystal… your family doesn't still have that, do they? What about the phoenix?" Aerrow asked.

"The phoenix willing gave my ancestors it's crystal, so we never had to worry about that. You see, a few years after Ossy and I met, Cyclonians attacked our home. They destroyed the village and Terra so badly that the earth could no longer support crops. Everyone had to leave. Ossy and I lost our families in the attack so we had nowhere to go. I actually swiped the Phoenix Crystal from our family's vault right before the attack to show it to Ossy; she always loved that crystal. Eventually, the two of us found our way to Terra Atmosia. Ossy decided to become a Sky Knight and I swore I'd never leave her side. So I got a job in the Academy's library to help pay for her tuition."

"And that's where I come in!" Ray interjected. "You see, I grew up with five brothers and all they were ever interested in was 'extreme!' And that just wasn't my scene. So I left for Atmosia to become a Sky Knight, you know, make a name for myself. Ossy and I were in the same training squad and we became best buddies!"

"So you're a Sky Knight too?" Junko asked.

"Actually, no. I dropped out of the Academy. I'm not sure what it was, but being a Sky Knight just didn't feel like my thing. It was always Ossy's thing; she was born to be a Sky Knight. So I left the Academy and did some soul searching, ran into Krane and came back in time for Ossy's graduation and official knighting ceremony! After that, she asked me to join her squadron and I just couldn't say no!"

"So Krane, what were you doing before you joined up with the Jaegers?" Aerrow asked.

Krane froze immediately and turned away, remaining silent.

"Uh, Krane doesn't really talk much," Crow said. "Uh…And we don't actually know a lot of what he did before he ran up with Ray! All we know is that he used to be a knife thrower in the Terra Neon circus," Crow insisted quickly.

"Terra Neon? That's cool, man!" Finn complimented.

"What about you Basil?" Aerrow asked.

"I was… running with a different crowd, so to speak," he hissed.

"He was one of the Raptors," Ray answered for him.

"RAY!" he shouted.

"What? We're all giving out our origin stories so you might as well share too!"

"So we were right!" Finn grinned.

"Technically yes, but I'm not with Repton anymore!" Basil insisted. "When Repton found out I was defecting, he and his lackeys chased after me. 'No one betrays Repton and lives to tell the tale.' That's how the Jaegers found me. They rescued me and after a while, they invited me to join the squadron."

"What made you leave? If you don't mind me asking, that is," Piper added quickly.

"Repton was harassing some of the Terradon scientists, as he always did on a regular basis. One of them however, refused to be Repton's slave any longer and tried to fight back, retaliate. So, Repton killed him. That's why I left."

"What's a big guy like you care about one Terradon scientist?" Finn asked.

"He was my cousin," Basil answered simply, earning an awkward silence from the Storm Hawks.

"Oh, I, I'm so sorry," Piper offer her condolences.

"It may be hard for you to believe, but family means something to me. And that wretched bastard took the only family I had left. My cousin and I were very close and for taking him from me, Repton will pay!" Basil muttered under his breath, tightly clenching his fist.

"So, what about you guys? What made you guys become the Storm Hawks?" Crow asked.

"Well, Finn, Piper, Radarr and I grew up on Terra Neverlandis after we lost our families. Junko was part of a group of kids that were harassing us before he joined up with us. Anyway, we found out that the old leader of the Storm Hawks, Lightning Strike, was my father. We found the Condor and Stork together and revived the squadron!" Aerrow explained, smiling to each of his friends as he recounted the story.

"Well, it's nice to know that I'm not the only ex-villain around here." As Basil spoke, Krane couldn't help but turn his head at Basil's words, glancing at his teammates briefly before turning away again.

Just then, Ossy reentered the bridge with a rolled up map clenched in her hands. "Guys, one of my contacts radioed in telling me that the Cyclonians have invaded a small Terra just a few clicks from here: Terra Concord," she explained, rolling out the map and pointing to a small Terra.

"Terra Concord? Only farmers live there, certainly not people who can fight!" Piper exclaimed.

"Then it looks like the Storm Hawks are needed!" Aerrow cried excitedly.

"Excuse me?" Ossy asked.

"Oh come on, it'll be great! Our squadrons teaming up? The Cyclonians won't stand a chance!" Aerrow added.

"I don't think so. I've seen how your team works and frankly, I'm not impressed. You can head back to your Condor now," she said, ushering them away with her hand.

"Ossy, a few extra hands might not be a bad idea," Crow reasoned.

"Fine, you can come along. But I'm in charge, is that understood?" Ossy said in a serious tone as she walked right up to Aerrow.

"All right, you're in charge!" he said with a nervous smile.

* * *

><p><strong>So, the Storm Hawks and Blackburn Jaegers will be teaming up ;) yay!<strong>


	7. Squadron Clash Part 3

**Well here's part 3, the last part of Squadron Clash! Enjoy!**

**Also, someone seemed interested in there being a familial connection between Osprey and Aerrow. Sorry, but no, Ossy and Aerrow are not biologically related in any way.**

* * *

><p>"So," Piper began, as she and Crow plotted out a plan of attack together on a map.<p>

"So, what?" Crow asked.

"How long have you been in love with her?"

"Wh-what? What are you talking about? In love with who?" he stammered, trying to hide the blush that was forming on his face.

"Osprey. I saw the way you look at her and the way you talk about her. It's obvious you have feelings for her! So, I'll ask again: how long have you been in love with her?" she asked again.

"Uh, since we first met," he admitted, blushing furiously.

"Oh that's so adorable! Love at first sight! How sweet! Have you told her how you felt?"

"What? Are you crazy? Of course not!"

"Why not?" she asked.

"Ossy's got too much to worry about: leading the squadron, fighting Cyclonians. She's so brave, strong and beautiful; she'd never go for someone like me. And even if she did, I'd just be a distraction!"

"Well, I can tell she really likes you. You should tell her how you feel," she said.

"Maybe, but not today."

"All right, everyone, we're coming up on Terra Concord. Crow, Piper, what's our battle plan?" Ossy asked, coming up to the two.

"Well, Terra Concord's a pretty small Terra. They have some guards, but not enough to repel a Cyclonian invasion," Crow began.

"The Cyclonians will probably be coming from the south, the Terra and village are most exposed from that direction," Piper added. "I suggest that we set up on the southern end of the Terra to keep the Cyclonians at bay while the Condor and Frigate circle around the main Terra in case any Cyclonians try to flank us."

"I concur," Crow said.

"All right, that sounds good. Piper, radio your helmsman and let him know the plan. Crow, up in your nest, Bas and Ray with me, and you… Storm Hawks," she muttered, as if refusing to give them recognition as a squadron, "are with us."

"Head's up, Cyclonians inbound!" Crow shouted after looking through the periscope.

"All right, everyone else to your skimmers. Not a single Cyclonian gets past us!" she ordered. The hangar doors opened as Ossy, Basil, Ray and the Storm Hawks rode off the landing platform and into the sky.

"Looks like a lot of Talons," Aerrow grinned excitedly. "This is gonna be fun!"

"Fighting Cyclonians isn't supposed to be fun!" Ossy cut in.

"Yeah, but it doesn't not have to be fun either! You should really loosen up more, enjoy the little things like kicking the snot out of Cyclonians!" he said cheerfully.

"Aerrow, we've got another problem!" Piper shouted, pointing to the lead Switchblade skimmer.

"The Dark Ace!" he grinned.

"Don't get cocky, kid!" Ossy cautioned.

"Who's getting cocky? I've beaten the Dark Ace tons of times before!"

"I'll believe it when I see it!"

"Come on, let's bring the pain to these hosers!" Ray shouted excitedly, punching her fist into her other hand.

"All right, everyone take out as many Talons as you can. Don't let them near the Terra! Aerrow, you and me will take the Dark Ace," Ossy commanded.

"Heh, I thought you'd want to take him alone," Aerrow smirked.

"Maybe I'm just curious to see if you're as good as you say," Ossy smirked back as the pair rode up towards the Dark Ace.

"Ah Aerrow, I was hoping you'd be here. Ready to surrender?" Ace taunted.

"Not a chance, Dark Ace!" he shouted back.

"And you must be the Blackburn Phoenix, the Sky Knight with the blazing orange hair and leader of the Blackburn Jaegers. A pleasure," he greeted with a malicious smile.

"That's not the word I'd use to describe this," she retorted. "Enough talking!" Ossy jumped onto the wings of her Firetail skimmer as she drew her katanas. She gathered the energy from within her body and her crystals and jumped high into the air as she unleashed a brilliant, bird-shaped wave of energy of fire and ice. Pulling out a small white crystal, Dark Ace wasted no time in responding with his own attack, a large, bright red bolt that cut through her wave and knocked her off the wings of her skimmer.

"Osprey!" Aerrow called as he flew down and caught her in his arms.

"What are you doing!" she shouted.

"Pfft-pt, saving you! Man, you have a lot of hair!" he noted, trying to move her hair out of his face as the wind blew furiously past them.

"I can save myself," she insisted, pressing a button on her gauntlet that summoned her skimmer to them. She jumped out of Aerrow lap and back onto her skimmer.

"I take it you've never actually fought the Dark Ace before, huh?" he asked.

"Never met him before now!" she called back.

"Well, here's something real important. He's just a big sore loser. He always underestimates his opponents, and is a real sore loser!"

"And how's that help us? I saw that Amplifier Crystal he's got. It doubles the power of the Firebolt Crystal in his broadsword!"

"Hm… what if we combine our moves? He'll never see that coming!"

"It could work…" Ossy thought for a moment.

"Trust me, Osprey, you can't go into battle with this strict mindset you carry yourself with. You should learn to be a bit more spontaneous and unpredictable. How do you think I managed to beat the Dark Ace, Snipe and Ravess?"

"All right then, we'll play this your way. He's coming back around, it's now or never!"

"Ready for round two?" Ace taunted, jumping on to the wings of his Switchblade and drawing his broadsword.

"More than ready," Ossy muttered with narrowed eyes. She and Aerrow jumped onto their skimmers' wings and drew their dual swords.

"Ready? On my mark…" Aerrow shouted, "Now!" Once they got close enough, the Dark Ace unleashed his move. As the bright red, electrifying bolt neared them, Ossy and Aerrow exchanged looks before unleashing their moves together. Aerrow's Lightning Claw infused with Ossy's Phoenix Frostblaze, creating a tri-elemental wave of fire, lightning and ice that cut right through the Dark Ace's attack and sliced right through his Switchblade. As he fell, the Dark Ace pulled out his glider and shouted in frustration of his defeat.

"I can't believe that worked," Ossy exhaled.

"See? Told you it would work! It can't hurt to be more spontaneous and flexible!"

"Come on, let's take care of the rest of these Talons!" she smiled. With the Dark Ace defeated, it didn't take long for the rest of the Talons to fall in battle thanks to the combined efforts of the Storm Hawks and Blackburn Jaegers. The people of Terra Concord were so grateful that they wanted to throw a celebration to honor the two squadrons for saving them.

"Aw yeah, a feast!" Finn and Junko exclaimed together.

"Man, I'm betting this is where we leave and not enjoy this celebration in our honor?" Ray assumed.

"Nope," Ossy answered.

"Wait, what?" Ray gasped.

"You mean we're actually staying for the celebration? You always said they were a waste of time!" Crow exclaimed.

"Yeah well, I've learned that it can't hurt to loosen up and be a little more flexible," she said, smiling at Aerrow as he smiled back to her.

"Awesome! Come on, boys let's enjoy this feast before Ossy changes her mind!" Ray exclaimed, dragging Basil and Krane by the arm towards the town square, where the celebration was being held. Crow and the rest of the Storm Hawks followed after them, leaving Aerrow and Ossy alone.

"I underestimated you," she said.

"Huh?" Aerrow asked, surprised.

"That usually doesn't happen, but you surprised me today. Nice work, Sky Knight," she added, holding out her hand.

"You too, Osprey!" Aerrow chuckled, shaking her hand firmly.

"You can call me 'Ossy'," she smiled.

"Haha, all right, Ossy. Can the rest of my squadron call you 'Ossy'?" he asked, as they made their way to the celebration.

"Nope."

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><p><strong>Well, that's really all I have in the Blackburn Jaegers department. I guess any future chapters from this point on will be flashbacks to before the team was formed... unless you guys have some ideas, in which case, feel free to suggest ideas for future chapters!<strong>


	8. Perfect Attunement Part 2

**Originally, I wasn't planning on writing a part 2 for the Perfect Attunement oneshot from earlier. But I couldn't help but imagine the aftermath of Crow's big confession. Specifically, I knew right away that Ossy wouldn't be all "I love you too" and that they'd get together. She'd question him and everything and maybe admit her feelings in her own way.**

* * *

><p>Crow groaned as he tiredly opened his eyes. He brought his hand up to rub his eyes as he awoke and was amazed when he felt how sore the muscles of his arm were. When his eyes were fully opened, he realized he was in the bed in the Frigate's infirmary. He was shirtless and had bandages wrapped around his chest and arms and had a bandage on his cheek.<p>

_'What happened?' _he thought, _'The last thing I remember was…'_ Before Crow could finish his next thought, the infirmary door opened and Ossy entered. She didn't have her armor on and had a bandage wrapped around her head. "Ossy, you're ok!" he cried out in relief. Crow immediately regretted sitting up as quickly as he did. He must not have been fully healed yet for his sharp movements caused a quick, but stinging pain to shoot through his side.

"Hey, hey, don't strain yourself," she said, helping him settle back down into a comfortable position.

"Thanks. What happened?" he asked.

"You don't remember?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, we were fighting the Dark Ace and you kept trying to use the Binding. When we beat him… you died," she explain quietly.

"I… what?" he asked in disbelief.

"But before you died, you told me that you were in love with me…since the moment we first met," she added.

"Uh… I did?" he asked, a worried expression suddenly forming on his face. "Wait, if I died, h-how am I still here?" he asked, curious but also desperate to change the subject.

"I kissed you," Ossy answered, "and then we both started glowing. I don't know what happened, but it somehow… revived you or something."

"Perfect Attunement…" Crow whispered.

"What?" Ossy asked. Crow had whispered so quietly that she didn't hear what he had said.

"Perfect Attunement," he repeated, but more loudly this time.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Perfect Attunement is a phenomenon that occurs within the Binding. Normally, the flow of the Binding is one way, from the crystal mage to the recipient, from me to you," he explained, motioning from himself to Ossy. "When both parties fall into perfect synchronization, that flow becomes two way. Energy I send you gets multiplied and sent back and multiplied again and again."

"And is that what revived you?"

"It must be it. I don't think it could be anything else."

"Why didn't you mention this Perfect Attunement earlier?"

"There were so few documented cases on my family's books that I didn't think it possible or even real!"

"So then why did Perfect Attunement happen when it did? Why didn't it happen earlier?" she asked, pressing for more information.

"There must have been some kind of mental block between us, something that prevented us from reaching synchronization."

"But I've never kept anything from you."

"Not you. I-it was me. I was the block."

"So, when you told me you loved me, the block disappeared," she realized.

"Yes," he answered, turning his face away from Ossy's to avoid looking at her.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Huh?"

"You know what I mean, Crow! How come you never told me how you really felt about me? We've known each other since we were kids, Crow!" she exclaimed, her voice growing louder with each word as she stood up from her seat. She stopped herself for a moment and took a deep breath before sitting back down. "Have you really been in love with me since we first met?" When Crow didn't answer, she pleaded, "Crow, look at me."

"Yes, it's true," he hesitantly answered, as he lifted his head to look at her light green eyes.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I was afraid."

"Yeah, you said that," she said.

"I did? Uh, what else did I say?" he asked, his cheeks growing redder and redder with every passing second.

"You said that you didn't think you were worthy of me. Is that true?"

"…Yes," he answered plainly.

"How could you think that, Crow?"

"Because you're so beautiful and braver and stronger than me! A guy like me could never get a girl like you! You're Osprey Fenix, Sky Knight, the Blackburn Phoenix! And I'm… I'm just Crow," he explained. "I didn't think I was good enough for someone like you and I didn't want to be a distraction."

"Distraction?"

"You're a Sky Knight, Ossy. You have a duty to the Atmos and an important job to do. I wouldn't want you to get distracted because of me."

"Is that what you really think?" she asked, to which Crow nodded. "Crow," she said, shaking her head in disappointment, "you're such an idiot."

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"You're not **just** Crow, to me! You're the most important person in my life, Crow! When I was in Sky Knight Academy, there were times where I was ready to give up and throw in the towel. But you were always there to pick me back up and push me to keep going! When I ride in to battle, I know that you've always got my back. Crow, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you."

"But I-" he started.

"No, you listen to me, Crow. Don't you dare think that you're less significant than I am! I know I'm not the best when it comes to talking about my feelings, so here goes: You are an important member of this team and the most important person in my life!" she shouted rather passionately before reaching to take his hand in hers.

"Ossy?" Crow looked at her, confused and uncertain how to process what she was saying. With his hand still in hers, she stood up from her seat and leaned over he bed, inching her face closer and closer to his. "Ossy," he whispered her name more quietly this time as Ossy's eyes slowly closed and her lips descended lightly onto his. When Crow felt her lips touch his, a million feelings and emotions flooded through his head. But he decided to ignore all these feelings and focused on one thing: what was happening here and now. Without another thought, he let his eyes drift shut and relaxed into Ossy's kiss. He gripped the hand that held Ossy's hand while bringing up his other hand to wrap around her neck. He wrested his palm on the back of her neck as his fingers dug into her thick, flaming locks of hair.

Outside of the infirmary, Lily Ray, Basil and Krane all crowded around the side of the door, peeking into the room to watch while being as quiet as possible. "Haha! Pay up boys!" Ray whispered as she grinned widely. Basil and Krane dug into their pockets and Basil in particular reluctantly handed over a handful of coins. Ray happily pocketed the coins before the three of them resumed watching their teammates.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed that! Crow and Ossy are officially together now :D<strong>


	9. Eternity Part 1

**Holy fucking shit guys, this is crazy. I'm being completely serious when I say that this next arc of Blackburn Jaeger story is based on a dream I had about two days ago. It was a JaegersxHawks mashup! I literally woke up and was like "did I seriously just dream that?" And this isn't the first time I've dreamt something about something I like and got an idea for the characters of that series we've made! City Shadows wouldn't have happened were it not for the dream I had that gave birth to the 13 Coins! It doesn't happen often, but when it does, boy, does my subconscious make good stuff or what?**

**But I digress. Can I just express how crazy it is that I had a dream like this! It was just such an awesome dream that I had to adapt it into a story and share it with you all! Now, I had to add some content here and there to make the contents of the dream make sense in a story format and in the world of Storm Hawks, but for the most part, everything that happened in the dream, happens here... at least for part 1.**

**As for continuity, this would take place after everything else that's happened (Krane/NightCrawler and OssyxCrow)**

* * *

><p>"Where are they? They said they'd be here in an hour!" Piper exclaimed in worry as she paced around the circular table on the bridge.<p>

"Piper, relax!" Aerrow cried, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder to stop her from wearing out the floor with her pacing. "It's only been fifty eight minutes!"

"Yeah Piper, chill!" Finn added, leaning against the wall casually.

"Am I the only one worried about this? If the Cyclonians get into that ancient tomb first who knows what they'll find!" Piper cried, trying to convey the significance of the situation at hand.

"Got something approaching from the south," Stork called, before moving to the periscope, scanning the skies for the ship that the timepulse had picked up. "Oh yeah, there it is," he muttered.

"Is it them?" Junko asked.

"Do you know any other big scary black ships with a bright red hull?" Stork asked rhetorically.

The large black frigate with the bright red hull and orange sigil of a flaming bird pulled up next to the Condor before anchoring itself beneath the cliffs like the white and blue ship. Within a minute, the Blackburn Jaegers rode their skimmers off the landing pad of the Frigate and landed on the Condor's pad. Soon enough, the bridge doors opened and the squadron of five walked in, led by their bright orange-haired leader.

"We came as quickly as we could!" Crow exclaimed.

"What's the situation?" Osprey asked, walking up to Aerrow and shaking the hand he offered.

"Good to have you aboard. We've been intercepting Cyclonian transmissions and found something odd," Aerrow explained.

"Odd how?" Ossy asked.

"Well, normally their transmissions are about armaments, troop deployments, the usual," Piper shrugged, "But this time, several of their transmissions talked about Terra Crystallum."

"Terra Crystallum? Where's that? I've never heard of that Terra," Lily Ray asked.

"I have," Crow spoke up. "Back when Ossy was attending the Sky Knight Academy, I was working in the Academy's library to help pay her tuition. I remember one of the books I was reading in the restricted section mentioned it."

"What did it say?" Basil asked.

"It is said that Terra Crystallum was where Crystal Magic first originated. There was a whole citadel filled with Crystal Mages and their knowledge of every crystal and how to use them!"

"What happened to them?" Aerrow asked.

"What do you think, Aerrow?" Piper asked.

"Cyclonians!" he realized, narrowing his eyes angrily.

Piper nodded. "We only know a little about Terra Crystallum's history and the history of the Crystal Mages that lived there. But we do know that it was the Cyclonians that contributed to their decline. It happened centuries ago with the first Master Cyclonis. She led a raid on the Terra's citadel and stole all their knowledge on crystal magic. When they were done, she had her troops destroy everything on the Terra so that she and her descendants would be the only ones with the greatest knowledge of Crystal Magic in Atmos."

"So if the Cyclonians already raided this place hundreds of years ago, why are they so interested in it now?" Ossy asked.

"Apparently when they conducted the first raid, there was a whole series of secret tunnels and caves beneath the citadel. Master Cyclonis thinks there may be some additional secrets about Crystal Magic there so she's ordered her Talons to completely excavate the Terra," Piper answered.

"Do we know who's leading the excavation?" Crow asked.

"Ravess and Snipe," she answered.

"We shouldn't risk an all out assault then. We are two very good squadrons, but we don't want to get cocky. I suggest a stealth mission: a small teams goes into the underground tunnels, finds whatever it is the Cyclonians are looking for and take it before they even realize we were ever there," Ossy suggested.

"Good idea," Aerrow nodded in agreement.

"Great! I'll get my camera! I have to document everything we find!" Piper exclaimed in glee.

"No, you're not going. Just me and Aerrow," Ossy said bluntly.

"What? How come?"

"If there are as many Talons there as you estimate plus Snipe and Ravess, we can't afford to go in with a big group. It'll draw too much attention. But if we go in with a small strike team of just two people, we can slip by their defenses and make it into the tunnels and get out before they even realize. And if we do run into trouble, Aerrow and I are best equipped to handle the situation. We need you all to stay here and be ready at a moment's notice to bail us out if things get dicey."

"Sorry Piper, but her plan makes sense," Aerrow shrugged.

"Ok… But please try to bring whatever you find back in one piece! I can't wait to learn from the ancient Crystal Mages!"

"I will," Aerrow smiled.

"You sure about this?" Crow asked with a look of worry.

"I'll be fine," she replied confidently. "Krane and Basil, you two head back to the Frigate and start getting it ready in case we have to fight our way out. Crow, you and Ray stay here and keep Krane and Basil updated. If something goes wrong, I'll give the signal."

Crow locked his dark brown eyes with her light aqua green ones before closing his eyes and sighing in defeat, knowing that there was no reasoning with her. "Ok, just be careful."

"So, how exactly are we going to get into these tunnels before the Cyclonians if they haven't even finished excavating an entrance yet?" Aerrow asked.

"Simple," Piper said, "The Cyclonians are excavating from the surface, so it's going to take them a long time to reach any kind of entrance. What they don't realize, is that there's actually a secret passage right below the cloudline near the base of the Terra."

"Then we'll go in from there. Let us know if anything happens through the radio," Ossy said as she and Aerrow made their way to the hanger and rode their skimmers slowly and silently down below the cloudline and into the Wasteland. Once they reached the base of the Terra, they landed their skimmers.

"Ok, Piper said the secret entrance should be right about… here," Aerrow said, walking up to a large rock wall. "Doesn't look much like a door, does it?"

"Certainly not. But I have a feeling that it's not what it seems," Ossy said, walking up to the stone wall to examine it further.

"Just like the Forbidden City," Aerrow added. "Hey what about this?" he asked, leading Ossy over to a pedestal with a small statue of a bird on it. The bird statue was broken in half, with only the lower body and ends of the wings still attached to the pedestal while the broken off half lay on the ground next to it. Aerrow bent down and picked up the statue, putting it back in place. All of a sudden, the statue halves locked together and the eyes of the statue began glowing. The pair heard a rumbling noise behind them. To their amazement, the rocks on the wall suddenly glowed and floated out from the wall, revealing a secret passage.

"Wow…" they both said in awe, carefully riding their skimmers into the passage.

"Look, up there!" Ossy called, pointing to a small crystal apparatus on the ceiling as glowing tendrils from it held each of the boulders that made up the wall in place. "It must be some kind of crystal lock." Just as she said that, the 'door' behind them closed and the energy tendrils disappeared as a trail of crystals on the ceiling of the tunnels lit up.

"At least we have some light," Aerrow said.

Ossy nodded in agreement. "Let's move, but keep our engines quiet. Even if the Cyclonians haven't found a way in here yet, we don't want to tip them off."

As they rode, they encountered some twists and turns and alternate paths, but upon finding them mostly to be dead ends, they kept continuing down the only path that didn't end with another wall. That is, however, until their last open path wound up being a dead end.

"This can't be all there is! Dead ends?" Ossy cried.

"Hang on, I'll radio Piper," Aerrow said, reaching for the radio on his skimmer. "Piper, come in Piper. This is Aerrow. Do you copy? Over."

"Aerrow! Are you two ok? Have you found anything?" she asked. The reception was a bit staticy but Aerrow was able to make out her words.

"We've explored all the tunnels down here, but all of them end in dead ends. Do you have any information that might help us out?"

"Just a second… Oh, here's something! But I'm not sure how much help it'll be!"

"Just give it to us, Piper. Something's better than nothing."

"Ok, the Crystal Mages of Terra Crystallum worshipped a mystical being known as the White Hawk. A lot of their art and architecture was constructed in honor of it."

"A White Hawk… You think it might have something to do with that statue we saw at the entrance?" Aerrow suggested.

"Could be. I remember seeing a big stone mural of a bird back down one of those turns we tried," Ossy said, pointing back with her thumb.

"Thanks, Piper! We'll keep you posted if we find anything," Aerrow said before putting the radio back. He and Ossy rode their skimmers back down the main path and took the turn Ossy remembered. Once they reached the end, they noticed a large stone carving of a massive bird with thick, feathery wings on the wall. "Any ideas?" he asked.

"Well, before the wall opened up to let us in, the eyes of the bird statue glowed for a second."

"I see what you're getting at. Gimme a boost," Aerrow said. Ossy moved next to him at the wall and bent down slightly, cupping her hands together. Aerrow stepped one foot onto her hands and stabilized himself with a hand on her shoulders as she hoisted up to stand on her shoulders. She quickly grabbed his ankles to keep him secure while Aerrow tried to find his balance.

"Stop moving so much!" she cried, trying to keep him from falling.

"I'm trying!" Aerrow cried. He managed to reach his hand out to the wall and balance himself out. "Ok, move right up to the wall," he said. Ossy stepped up so close that her nose was almost touching the cold stone as Aerrow stretched his arm as far as he could to touch the eye of the carving. "I can't reach it! Hang on," Aerrow said, reaching behind his back for one of his blades and just touching the stone-carved eye with the tip of the blade. The eye went deep into the wall as Aerrow's blade pushed it in and he jumped off Ossy's shoulders. The wall split down the middle and slowly opened to reveal a long shaft leading straight up.

"We'll have to keep going on foot," Ossy said. She reached over to her skimmer and began rummaging through the equipment on it. As she searched, a small badge fell off her skimmer and rolled over to Aerrow's foot.

He bent down and picked up the badge and noticed that it had the Storm Hawks emblem on it. "Hey, why do you have a Storm Hawks badge?" he asked, instantly gaining Ossy's attention.

She sharply turned back to look at him, but quickly returned to rummaging as she replied, "It's a long story."

"I think we have the time," he replied, eager to learn how she acquired something with his squadron's emblem on it.

Ossy sighed, knowing that he would not let up. "It was twelve years ago; I was only six years old when it happened."

"When what happened?"

"It was the first raid on my home Terra by the Cyclonians - not the one that completely destroyed it, that one would happen a few years later. I remember seeing the skies darken with black clouds and red lightning. That enormous ship in the distance and those Talon skimmers descending on us like a swarm! Then suddenly, there was this bright flash of blue light and those Talon's skimmers were destroyed! It only took a matter of minutes for him and his squadron to completely devastate the attempted invasion and drive off the Cyclonians."

"Who?" Aerrow asked.

"Lightning Strike," she answered.

"Lightning Strike?"

"The leader of the Storm Hawks, the original ones. Even today, I've never seen anyone move as fast as he does. He was strong, brave and just downright incredible. Even after repelling the attack, he and his squadron stayed behind to help us rebuild what the Cyclonians destroyed. He was the one who gave me that badge and at that moment, I knew that I wanted to be exactly like him."

"Wow…"

"Don't you remember anything about him? He was your father after all."

"Wait, how'd you know that?" Aerrow asked.

"Come on, it's obvious. You've got the same red hair as he did and you fight a lot like he did."

"Really?"

"Jumping off his skimmer to attack others? Yeah, he did that a lot. That's why he had his co-pilot. I don't think you're as physically strong as he was, but you've definitely got him beat on speed."

"Thanks," Aerrow chuckled. "To be honest, I don't remember much about him. I was just a kid when he left, but I remember him being tall. I've heard all kinds of stories about the old Storm Hawks, but I think it'd be nice for me to have some more memories of my own of him, you know?"

"I think he'd be proud of you if he could see you now," she said, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving him one of her rare smiles.

"Thanks."

"Here," she said, handing him a small firearm-like device with a four pronged hook at the end.

"What is this?" he asked, examining the device in his hand.

"Grappling hook. It'll make the climb a lot easier and faster," she said, pointing the grappling hook straight to the top of the shaft. With the pull of the trigger, the hook shot out, followed by a thick cable. He heard it latch onto something as the cable began retracting and hoisted Ossy up the stone shaft at incredible speed.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, watching her shoot up above him. Once she was clear, he did the same thing as her and flew up the shaft, all the while resisting the urge to shout "Woooohooo!" as he went. "This thing is awesome!" he cried.

"Krane's design. If you want, I can have him make a copy of the blueprint and you guys can make it yourself," she suggested.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed, holstering the grappling hook to her belt as Ossy did the same.

"The only question now is which way do we go?" Ossy asked as Aerrow noticed that all around them were eight different passageways. The Sky Knight duo thought in silence, trying to figure out the best course of action when Aerrow suddenly noticed another stone carving of a large bird, this time on the ceiling directly above them.

"Look up there!" he pointed.

"Good eye!" Ossy complimented, examining the carving. Unlike the one before, this carving showed the bird from a bird's eye view, rather than a portrait. "Look where it's pointing with it's beak," she noted, "That must be the right way then."

They continued down the hall on foot until they came to a large open chamber with a pedestal situated in the middle of the room with a floating light blue crystal above it. "Whoa… What Piper would give to see this! You think this is what the Cyclonians are after?"

"Could be," Ossy said as she and Aerrow cautiously approached the pedestal to examine the crystal. "I've never seen a crystal like this before."

"Me neither. What do you think it does?" he asked.

"Don't know, but we should be careful. Let's look around first, maybe there'll be some clue about what kind of crystal this is or what it does," she said, as Aerrow nodded. As they looked around, Ossy moved to the back end of the chamber, noticing writing carved on the wall. "Hey, found something!" she called Aerrow over.

"That writing looks ancient!" he exclaimed.

"It is; ancient Atmosian script."

"Can you read it?" he asked.

"I studied a bit of it back in my Academy days, but I'm a bit rusty. Let's see," she said, moving closer to examine the writing. "Ok, 'something something… too powerful… locked away… greater good.'"

"That doesn't sound good," he commented.

"No, it doesn't. I can't make out all the words, but for the most part, it looks like whatever this crystal does, the Mages of the citadel sealed it down here because it was too dangerous."

"Does it have a name?"

She nodded, "Right here," she pointed to the inscriptions and read, "'The Eternity Crystal.'"

"Eternity Crystal? What's that do?"

"Hang on…" she said, continuing reading the wall. "Whoa…"

"What? 'Whoa' what?" Aerrow cried, eager for an answer.

"This crystal… there's a reason they called it the Eternity Crystal."

"Why? Just tell me!" All of a sudden, the ground above them shook as dust and loose pebbles fell from the ceiling. "What was that?"

"The Cyclonians must have breached the tunnels. Who knows how long we have before they find this chamber!" Just as she said that, they felt another shake around them that knocked down part of the back wall on the far right of the chamber. Once the shaking was over, the two regained their footing and explored the secret room. In it, they found a tiny chamber, with a crystal statue of a man in armor with a round shield and a familiar emblem.

"That's the Storm Hawks emblem!" Aerrow pointed.

"Th-that looks just like Lightning Strike," Ossy added.

Aerrow's eyes widened at her words as he looked back at the statue. He couldn't remember much of what his father looked like, but if it was anything like this statue, he must have been an impressive figure.

Ossy moved forward to the small stone plaque in front of the statue and read from it. "'Found in the Wastelands, severely injured. Our healers did their best but the extent of the injuries he sustained were too great. Until we can find a way to save him, we have placed him here for safety. The Cyclonians cannot be allowed to find this.'"

"All this for a statue?" Aerrow asked.

"I don't think it's just a statue," Ossy said, standing up.

"What do you mean? What else could it be?"

"That crystal in the previous room, The Eternity Crystal. I know what it does."

"What?"

"It has the power to convert any living being into crystal."

"Whoa…" Aerrow gasped in awe just as she had moments ago.

"The Mages tried to use it to extend their lifespans, but once something was converted to crystal, they couldn't figure out a way to change it back to organic flesh. Anyone affected by it was transformed into a statue of crystal, trapped for all eternity. They couldn't figure out a way to reverse the process so use of the Eternity Crystal was forbidden."

"So… then…" Aerrow started, confused at what point she was getting to.

"Aerrow, this isn't a statue of Lightning Strike. This is Lightning Strike!"

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><p><strong>So, real quick: <strong>

**1. White Hawk: a character from the early stages of Storm Hawks. I think it was some mystical messenger spirit thingy that was supposed to guide the Storm Hawks or something. I just made a loose adaptation of that.**

**2. Eternity Crystal and Terra Crystallum: completely made those up in the moment. **

**3. Lightning Strike: I shit you not, that's what the dream was about: Ossy and Aerrow finding Lightning Strike... alive... kinda... you'll see when I write part 2. **

**PS I was so excited, I wrote all of this today!**

**PSS I've actually been trying to work out another oneshot focused on Basil running into Repton again after he initially defected (as requested by many), but I'm having a hard time finding the motivation and planning out the sequence of events better. So if y'all have any ideas for that, lay them on me!**


	10. Eternity Part 2

**Kinda sad that the only person who reviewed this was my friend and he was motivated to that because I told him it was based on a dream. But, what can you do? Anyway, I just hope that those of you who are reading this enjoy the end of this dream inspired two-parter!**

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><p>"What do you mean, this is Lightning Strike?" Aerrow cried in disbelief. "Even if it is him, how does that explain him being here! Everyone saw him fall into the Wastelands ten years!"<p>

"I know about as much as you do, Aerrow. But this plaque here confirms it," she said, bending down to the stone-carved plaque placed in front of the crystal statue.

"What does it say?" Aerrow asked.

"'Here lies the greatest Sky Knight of them all, Lightning Strike. Found on the verge of death in the Wastelands by our scouts. Attempts to save his life and heal him were futile and as a last resort, he was placed in eternal crystal sleep to rest until he could be saved,'" Ossy read. "So the people of Terra Crystallum found Lightning Strike after the failed attack on Cyclonia and tried to nurse him back to health. Either they lacked sufficient medical expertise or his injuries were far too extensive, which, given that he fell into the Wastelands without a parachute, seems the most likely reason. And as a last resort, they used the Eternity Crystal on him to preserve his life."

"So… so it really is him," Aerrow muttered, walking up to the statue and looking at Lightning Strike's crystal face.

Ossy quickly noticed Aerrow's expression,a mixture of shock and sadness, and asked, "Do you need a minute?"

"What? No, no, I'm fine. It's just been a long time since I last saw him," he replied. "I never thought I'd see him again… He's taller than I remember."

"This must have been why the Cyclonians attacked here years ago!"

"Huh?"

"When they couldn't find Lightning Strike's body in the Wastelands, they must have started searching nearby Terras in case he survived."

"Why would they do that?"

"Well think about it. If I were a ruthless dictator trying to take over the Atmos and the single most dangerous person who stood in my way fell to his death, I'd want to find the body and make sure he was really dead. The Crystal Mage of Crystallum must have hid his body here along with the Eternity Crystal to protect him."

"Then let's grab that crystal and change him back!" Aerrow cried.

"We can't! Remember what it said? When they used the crystal on him, he was on the verge of death. Even if we could find away to reverse the Eternity Crystal's effects, something the Crystal Mages of old never figured out, and unless we had the absolute highest quality of medical care, he could die the minute he turns back to flesh."

"So, then he has to stay like that," Aerrow lamented.

"For now, at least. But right now, we've gotta move him somewhere more secure."

"I lost him once to the Cyclonians; I'm not going to lose him again." Just as Aerrow reached out for the crystal statue, they heard footsteps coming from the main chamber behind them. "Someone's coming!" The Sky Knight duo ducked behind the wall as Aerrow carefully peeked out from behind the broken part of the wall that they came in through. "It's Ravess," he whispered, spotting the skinny archer and four Talons with her. "And she's got four Talons with her."

"Ah, here it is. Those Crystal Mages thought they could hide all their treasures from our clutches, hm?" Ravess spoke, admiring the beautiful and radiance of the Eternity Crystal. She waved her hand and one of the Talons approached the altar and placed a flat piece of metal beneath the floating crystal. He pressed a button on the side as a case formed around the crystal and the Talon took it in his arms. "Now then, let's be on our way."

"Ma'am?" one of the Talons asked.

"What?" she hissed in annoyance.

"The wall back there appears to be blown down. There may be something inside," he suggested. Aerrow quickly ducked back behind the wall and panted heavily.

"They didn't see you didn't they?" Ossy whispered.

"I don't think so," he answered.

"Well if you think there might be something there, then why don't you have a look?" Ravess ordered.

"Uh, yes ma'am," he saluted.

"Shoot, he's gonna find us!" Ossy cursed.

"Hang on, I have an idea," Aerrow grinned. The pair pressed themselves against the wall as much as they could as the Talon entered the small hidden room. He didn't see them right away and instead gasped at the sight of the large crystal statue. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Aerrow knocked him on the back of the head with a large rock.

"That was your idea?" Ossy whispered harshly.

"That was only half of it. Help me take his clothes off!"

"What?"

"Just do it!" Once the Talon's uniform and armor were removed, Aerrow quickly put them on and took a hold of the Talon's staff. "I'll go back out there and pretend to be this guy and grab the crystal when I can. You get my dad outta here."

"Got it. Be careful, Aerrow," she nodded.

"What's taking so long?" Ravess yelled from the main chamber.

"Uh, sorry about that ma'am. Nothing there, just an empty room," Aerrow replied, trying to imitate the Talon's voice as best he could. Thankfully, none of them seemed to notice the difference.

"Good, then let's get going. I must report our findings to Master Cyclonis immediately," Ravess said, walking off as Aerrow and the other Talons followed after her. Ossy waited until she couldn't hear their footsteps any longer before turning her attention back to the unconscious Talon they had knocked out and the 'statue' of Lightning Strike.

"Now how am I going to get you out of here?" she asked the crystal Lightning Strike out loud. "And I certainly can't leave you here," she added, looking at the Talon guard. She hoisted the guard over her shoulder, surprised that he didn't weigh as much as she thought before wrapping her other arm around the crystal. "Hm, you're not that heavy either…" she noticed. She made her way back down the shaft that she and Aerrow has ascended earlier, taking the guard and crystal statue down separately. When she got back to their skimmers, she took a cable from hers and tied the statue into the seat while mounting Aerrow's skimmer with the unconscious guard. She rode back out to the entrance on Aerrow's skimmer while controlling hers remotely. Once she made it outside, she pulled out her grappling gun and carefully ascended the rocky mountainside of the Terra with the unconscious Talon in hand. Once she reached the top, she placed him between some bushes. "Someone'll find you eventually, but we'll be done by the time that happens." She carefully crept through the excavation site, ducking behind boxes and machines to stay out of sight from passing Talons on patrol. From where she hid, she managed to get a clear view of Ravess getting on to one of the ships with a few Talons behind her carrying the cased Eternity Crystal. She spotted Aerrow among the Talons and sighed in relief. _'Good, he hasn't been discovered yet.'_ As Ravess disappeared into the ship with the Eternity Crystal, Ossy quickly scanned the ship for somewhere she could sneak aboard. She spotted two Talons on a small balcony on the side taking a smoke break and pulled out her grappling gun. Before taking aim and firing, she pulled out her Invisibility Crystal so no one could see her board the ship. Her grappling hook grasped onto the railing of the balcony and she was hoisted up onto the deck with ease.

"What was that?" one of the Talons asked. Ossy immediately remained still.

"Probably just something from engineering. The ship makes all kinds of noise when it's about to take off," the other replied.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We should probably head back to our stations now."

"Chill, we've still got ten minutes of our break and you know Ravess isn't going to let us have that time back as soon as we get back to work," the other said.

"Good point," the first Talon agreed while Ossy slowly and carefully made her way inside.

After searching through the ships and moving past guards undetected thanks to her Invisibility Crystal, she finally reached the room where the Eternity Crystal was being stored. Closing the door behind her, she uncloaked and looked at the crystal as it sat, still encased, in the center of the room on a pedestal. "Hm… too easy," she muttered, suspicious. Before she made a move for the crystal, six Talons descended from secret compartments in the ceiling and surrounded her, pointing their crystal tipped spears at her. Ossy reached for her katanas, but stopped when she heard Ravess enter the room.

"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sky Knight," she warned, aiming her arrow right at Ossy. With no other option, Ossy held up her arms in surrender. Two Talons approached her and took her katanas before seizing each of her arms. She quickly recognized the one on her left as Aerrow and she could tell what he was thinking. She quickly and discreetly shook her head, telling him not to do anything and just let what was happening play out. Aerrow appeared to understand and continued pretending to restrain her. "I had a feeling this crystal would draw the attention of a Sky Knight or two. Though I never would have expected it to bring me the Blackburn Phoenix! Master Cyclonis will be so pleased when she finds out I've captured the leader of the Blackburn Jaegers."

"Enjoy it while it lasts. I'll be walking out of here before we even reach Cyclonian air space," Ossy remarked confidently.

"I was told you were rather fearless, but don't worry, when Master Cyclonis is done with you, fear is all you will know," Ravess moved in closely and taunted Ossy. However, Ossy quickly stood forward and headbutted Ravess. "Ah!" Ravess hissed, clutching her nose as it lightly bled while the Talons restrained her. "Argh, take her to the hangar and bring the Eternity Crystal. I'm going to make you pay for your little stunt."

Aerrow handed the other Talon who held Ossy her sword as he walked her to the hangar with the spear pointed at her back. They followed after Ravess while the rest of the Talons brought the Eternity Crystal.

"Ok, that's it, I'm busting you out of here," Aerrow whispered.

"No, don't!" she whispered back.

"What? Why?"

"Just let this play out. I have an idea, trust me."

When they arrived in the hangar, Ossy saw her and Aerrow's skimmers along with the crystal statue of Lightning Strike. "I see we weren't the only ones doing some digging on Terra Crystallum. Such fine craftsmanship," Ravess said, admiring the statue as it was placed in the center of the hangar. If she thought it was a piece of art, then Ravess must not have known what the Eternity Crystal really did. Perhaps she could use this to her advantage. "Now, what sort of punishment should I inflict? A storm of arrows? Dropping you into the wastelands?"

"I have a better idea," both women looked to the side entrance of the hangar and saw Dark Ace enter, marching towards them.

"Dark Ace? What are you doing here?" Ravess cried, sounding insulted.

"Master Cyclonis sent me to make sure this mission went about smoothly. She was not willing to risk the chance of failure," he answered.

"Well as you can see, I have everything under control!" Ravess shouted.

"Do you? I see two skimmers here: one of the Blackburn Jaegers, obviously belonging to your captured Sky Knight here, and one of the Storm Hawks. Which means Aerrow can't be too far behind, or even already on this ship. You have a second intruder, Ravess, one you simply aren't aware of."

"Wh-what? I… Talons! Search the ship, find the Sky Knight!" she ordered as all the Talons except for the disguised Aerrow exited the hangar on her orders. Ossy's weapons were placed on one of the boxes in the hangar.

"Now this is a rare find, a crystal monument to Atmos' fallen hero, Lightning Strike," Dark Ace reminisced as he examined the statue.

"There's no need to fake your sentimentality, Dark Ace. We all know what you did," Ossy said, drawing Dark Ace's attention back to her.

"And… what did I do?" he asked, leaning down to her.

"Everyone knows the story about the fall of the original Storm Hawks. Lightning Strike was the greatest Sky Knight of all and he united the Atmos against Cyclonia. But nobody would have predicted what would happen next. His own co-pilot was a mole, an agent of Cyclonia installed into the Storm Hawks long ago. During the height of the battle, you struck him down from behind with his own sword."

"Indeed, I did. And the best part was, Lightning Strike never saw it coming; none of them did!"

"Well, you're about to not see something coming too," Ossy smirked. She quickly ducked and rolled to the side as Aerrow blasted Dark Ace with his spear, knocking him into Ravess. Ossy retrieved her katanas while Aerrow tore off his disguise and pulled out his dual swords.

"Is it true?" he asked, glaring at Dark Ace as the two Cyclonian lieutenants recovered.

"Ah, Aerrow, I was so hoping you'd join the show," he grinned excitedly.

"Is it true?" Aerrow asked again.

Dark Ace laughed, "Yes, it's true. For years I played those fools and I finished off Lightning Strike with me own hands and with his own sword!" Dark Ace pulled out his large broadsword and held it up proudly. Aerrow yelled and charged towards Dark Ace as they clashed swords. "Don't tell me you never knew? Wasn't that why you were always so keen on fighting me? So you could avenge your dear father's death?" As the two fought, Ravess turned her attention to Ossy and fired her arrows. Ossy managed to dodge a few and block the rest with her sword. She got close enough to strike, by Ravess blocked it with her bow and kicked Ossy away. Just as she recovered, Ravess shot one of her katanas out of her hand, leaving Ossy with one katana only.

"You might as well surrender. You're clearly outmatched!" Ravess declared proudly.

"And you're out of your mind if you think you can beat me." Ossy stabbed her sword into the floor of the hangar and placed her hands over the Phoenix Crystal embedded in the pommel. "There's a reason people call me the Blackburn Phoenix, Ravess and you're about to find out why that is." The Phoenix Crystal began glowing brightly as Ossy was enveloped in a fiery aura. Flames emanated from her body as her hair flowed like fire. She rose into the air as bright, orange wings of fire emerged from her back and her eyes turned bright gold. She raised her hands in the air and formed a large fireball above her head. Ravess stared at her with wide eyes and jaw dropped in awe. She was so shocked and entranced that she narrowly avoided the fireball Ossy hurled towards her. The force of the impact knocked her right into the wall and the Cyclonian archer slumped to the floor, unconscious. With Ravess out of the way, Ossy briefly turned her attention to the dueling Aerrow and Dark Ace before turning her focus onto the unguarded Eternity Crystal.

As they fought, Dark Ace managed to knock Aerrow onto his back and pin him to the ground with a foot on his chest. "Don't fight it Aerrow. Besides, I'm doing you a favor. I'm sending you to be with your father!" Dark Ace declared, raising his sword.

"There's only one problem with that, Dark Ace!" Ossy shouted, gaining Dark Ace's attention. She stood next to the crystal statue and held the Eternity Crystal in hand. "Lightning Strike isn't dead!" With the Eternity Crystal in hand, she drove it into Lightning Strike's chest, causing the crystal and statue to light up brightly. A shockwave emerged from the crystal, knocking Dark Ace off Aerrow and onto his back while leaving Aerrow and Ossy unharmed.

Aerrow ran over to Ossy and cried, "What did you do?"

"I pulled something from your book; I took a leap of faith!" she replied. When the light from the crystal finally died down, the statue was no longer stiff and motionless. Lightning Strike stood before them in all his glory, but still in the form of a crystal. He was hunched over on the ground, panting heavily as Ossy and Aerrow rushed to his side. "Lightning Strike, it's ok. Just take a deep breath and calm down."

"Wha- Wh-where am I? Wh-who are you? What's going on?" he cried frantically.

"What's wrong with him?" Aerrow cried.

"It must be a side effect of coming out of stasis," she replied before turning her attention back to the crystal Sky Knight. "Lightning Strike, it's ok, we're friends. My name is Osprey Fenix. You may not remember me, but you saved my Terra a long time ago when I was a little girl. Terra Blackburn, do you remember?" she asked, tenderly trying to help the memories return to him.

"T-Terra Blackburn… Y-yes, I remember that!"

"Do you remember me?" Aerrow asked, hopefully.

"Aerrow, careful. We don't want to overwhelm him," Ossy warned.

"A-Aerrow?" Lightning Strike asked.

"...Do you recognize me?" Aerrow asked.

"M-my son…" he gasped.

"That's right!" Aerrow exclaimed.

"Wh-what happened? The last time I saw you, you were just a little boy!"

"You've been asleep for a long time, dad."

"So that's what the Eternity Crystal does," Dark Ace spoke up as Lightning Strike looked down at the crystal embedded in his crystal body's chest. "Master Cyclonis will be pleased when I obtain that crystal for her!"

"A-Ace? Wh-what's going on? Why do you have my sword? And why are you dressed like a Talon?" Lightning Strike asked, standing up and stepping forward a few paces.

"It doesn't look like he remembers the battle from ten years ago," Aerrow whispered.

"Something tells me, he's about to," Ossy replied.

"Hahaha, do I need to spell it out for you, Lightning?" Dark Ace cackled.

Lightning Strike cried out and grabbed his head as Ossy and Aerrow rushed to help him. "No, wait… it's all coming back to me. The battle. We were winning. But then… you," Lightning Strike fell silent as he stared wide-eyed at his former partner before the realization of what happened settled in. "You betrayed me; you betrayed us!"

"And I'd do it again!" Dark Ace declared.

"But why? You were my co-pilot, my best friend! We were like brothers!"

"All an act. And before you go and ask when the old Master Cyclonis tempted me with power, that never happened. I was always with Cyclonia from the start," he grinned maliciously.

Lightning Strike stood in place with a look of shock before suddenly charging towards Dark Ace and slamming him with his shield. "We were brothers! I trusted you!" he shouted as the two fought. Lightning Strike whipped his shield towards Dark Ace, who dodged by rolling to the side. Instead the crystal shield tore right through the metal wall of the hangar and cut through the rest of the ship before returning to Lightning Strike. An explosion rang out somewhere in the ship as the vessel suddenly lost altitude and began descending.

"That can't be good," Aerrow cried.

As Dark Ace and Lightning Strike continued fighting, Lightning managed to get ahold of Dark Ace's sword. "You wield my blade like a trophy?"

"A trophy for my greatest achievement, followed closely by taking down Lightning Strike a second time and destroying the new Storm Hawks!"

"I will not allow it!" Lightning shouted. Another explosion shook the ship as Lightning and Dark Ace lost their balance and fell to the ground.

"Well, I'd love to stay and finish this reunion, but I'm not as good at crashing into the Wastelands as you," Dark Ace taunted, as he fled the hangar while boxes tumbled over the exit.

Lightning Strike was about to chase after him, but Aerrow and Ossy stopped him. "We have to get off this ship. It's going down!" Ossy shouted. They brought their skimmers to the hangar door and Aerrow pressed the button to open it, but the door did not respond.

"The mechanism must be damaged! How are we going to get out?" Aerrow cried.

"There, we can open it manually!" Ossy pointed at the chain pulley system pulled the hangar doors up. All three grabbed ahold of the chains and pulled, slowly but surely opening the doors. With the doors open, they returned to the skimmers, only for the door to shut right away.

"Dammit!" Ossy cursed. "It won't stay open!"

"Unless someone holds it open while you two escape," Lightning said, moving to the pulley once more and pulling to open the doors. He kept a firm grip on the chains to keep the door open. "Go!"

"But, we can't leave you! How will you get out?" Aerrow cried, refusing to abandon his father.

"I won't."

"What? I'm not leaving you behind!" Aerrow insisted.

"Aerrow, I don't believe Atmos is ready for me to come back the way I am. And what sort of life could I lead like this and with my squadron gone?"

"A life with me! We can be a family again!"

"And there's nothing I want more. But I am a Sky Knight, Aerrow. If one must be sacrificed to save the rest, then I must make that sacrifice. As your superior… and as your father, I refuse to let this sacrifice be your burden."

"But dad…" Aerrow argued, on the verge of tears.

"Let me do this for you, my son. Please. The Storm Hawks don't need Lightning Strike anymore, not when they have you."

"Aerrow," Ossy said, putting her hand on Aerrow's shoulder.

"I'm proud of you, Aerrow," Lightning Strike smiled. "Now go!"

Though he was reluctant to leave, Aerrow let Ossy pull him to his skimmer. Ossy took off first, but Aerrow lingered for a moment and exchanged one last look with his father, who simply smiled and shouted at him to go once more. Blinking away the tears that formed at the corner of his eyes, Aerrow looked ahead and drove his skimmer out of the crashing Cyclonian battleship as other escape pods and skimmers jettisoned from the ship. When they reached a safe distance, they watched as the ship disappeared below the cloud line and into the Wastelands. Though they couldn't see it, they heard the explosion of the ship ring out across the sky. Their flight back to the rendezvous was quiet, before Ossy spoke up.

"Aerrow, I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" he asked.

"For what happened. I know it couldn't have been easy to lose your father again after just getting him back."

"You know, I've always wondered how my dad would feel about me taking over the Storm Hawks. It's nice to know he's proud of me," Aerrow smiled.

"And for what it's worth, I think Lightning Strike made the right choice. I don't think Atmos is ready for something like an Eternity Crystal. If it fell into the wrong hands… Perhaps something like that is better lost in the Wastelands and history remains unchanged. Lightning Strike will forever be remembered as a brave hero who always fought for the safety of Atmos."

* * *

><p>Deep in the Wastelands in the wreckage of crashed Cyclonian ship stood a tall, cloaked figure made completely out of crystal. He walked over to a large broadsword on the ground and picked it up. He looked at the now-empty pommel and then at the crystal on his chest. He held the pommel up to his chest and the crystal socketed right in and coming out of his chest in the process. The sword suddenly turned completely into crystal, matching the figure itself and his shield. He sheathed the sword and shield on his back before walking deeper into the Wastelands as his cloak whipped in the wind.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! There was actually a part in the dream I had where Ossy got brainwashed by Cyclonis to work for her (but was actually faking being brainwashed the entire time) but I just couldn't find a way to work that into the story in a good way. <strong>

**I'm still working on a Basil backstory focused story similar to the Fire and Ice episode in that it will feature Lily Ray and the Raptors reuniting with Basil. Still kinda on a roadblock with that, so suggestions and ideas are most welcome and encouraged!**


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